


Stronger Than Blood

by Dessa



Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: AU - Canon Divergence, F/M, Force Bonds, Gen, Not sure if this will end up fluffy or not, Phoenix Nest Discord, Triplets
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-07
Updated: 2019-12-09
Packaged: 2021-01-25 02:14:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21348574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dessa/pseuds/Dessa
Summary: Jedi Knight Caleb Dume is given a new assignment, which may be the toughest he's dealt with yet.
Relationships: Caleb Dume & Ezra Bridger, Ezra Bridger & Luke Skywalker & Leia Organa, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 7
Kudos: 35





	1. The Assignment

Once the doors were opened for him, he nervously entered the circular chamber. “You wished to see me, Masters?” he asked.

“Called for you we did, Caleb Dume,” the wizened Grand Master confirmed. “Your thoughts on younglings, we ask for.”

“Younglings?” Caleb was taken aback. He spared a glance at his own Master, sitting on the council, but her face gave away nothing. “I'm sorry, Masters, but I'm not sure I understand. Younglings in general, their training, or...?” He gulped. Was he going to be asked to take on a Padawan? He'd been Knighted fairly recently.

“At ease, Knight Dume,” his own grandmaster said calmly. “We do not believe you are ready to take on a Padawan.”

The young Jedi Knight let out a sigh of relief, although he flushed slightly that he was so easy to read. “I understand. I know I have a lot to learn still, before I am ready to take on a student.”

“Much to learn, you have, but much to teach, as well. A problem, we have, your help, we seek.”

“My help?” Caleb nearly squeaked, and this time he did notice his Master chuckle under her breath. “Surely there are those more qualified to help you with whatever this problem is...?”

“My Caleb. Your heart is large, and you care for those around you. _That_ is the quality we need,” Depa Billaba told him. “We have received word from the Creche Masters, and among all the Knights in the Order, only you care enough to take the time to help the younglings one-on-one with what they're struggling with.”

Caleb flushed again. “The younglings' teachers have to teach everyone the same way by necessity, but that doesn't work for everyone. I just like helping them find a better way that works better for them.”

“And it is that, exactly, that we called you here for,” Obi-Wan Kenobi spoke up. “The... situation... we have requires someone who can dedicate the time to helping out the younglings.”

“If I may ask, what _is_ the situation?”

“Younglings, we have, that do not fit in with their peers. An understanding mentor, they need, to grow.”

“So you want me to take them under my wing?”

“Exactly,” Mace Windu clarified. “They will continue to take their classes with the other younglings, but outside of those times, they will be in your charge. Quarters have been arranged so that you may stay close to them."

“I accept, Masters,” Caleb told them, raising himself to his full height.

“Master Billaba, the way, show him?” Yoda asked.

“My pleasure,” she said, rising and joining her former Padawan. “This way, my Caleb.”

Caleb Dume followed her out of the Council Chambers, wondering what he'd just gotten himself into.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Caleb meets his charges

Depa Bilaba sighed as she watched her former Padawan pace. “Calm down, Caleb. You're going to wear a rut in the floor.”

“I can't do this, Master. Please, tell the Council they were wrong, they picked the wrong person. I can't do this.”

“That's not how you felt before.”

“That was before I knew it was the _Skywalkers_ that the Council was talking about!”

“They are younglings like the others.”

“_They_ are, but their parents aren't! What if I'm not good enough for them?!”

“Master Skywalker and Senator Amidala are entrusting you with their children. They trust you.”

“But I--”

“Or do you think that _I_, as a member of the Council, have made a bad decision?”

“N-no, Master! Of course not!”

Any further discussion was cut-off by the door chiming, and Depa called out for the visitor to enter. She rose, smiling, and bowed slightly, Caleb doing the same next to her, though much more stiffly and less graceful.

“Senator Amidala, it is a pleasure to see you.”

“Likewise, Master Bilaba. And this must be Knight Dume, I've been looking forward to meeting you.”

“Y-yes, Ma'am...” He struck his hand out, and she smiled as she shook it. It was only then that the two younglings behind her were noticed.

Caleb was much more comfortable with them. “Hmm, blond and brunette... you guys must be Luke and Leia.”

Luke nodded, staying next to his mother, while Leia walked right over to him and stared him straight in the eyes. “You'd better be good to me and my brothers!” she proclaimed.

“Leia!” Amidala called sharply, but Caleb just laughed. “I'm here to teach and help you. I can't guarantee I'll always be nice, but I'll be a friend as best I can.”

“I like that,” Luke said softly, and his sister calmed.

“Although... I thought there were three of you...?”

“Ezra is having a bit of difficulty coming to terms with this new arrangement, and is with my husband,” Amidala told him

“I'm sorry...”

“No, it's not your fault. Ezra has never liked change much, and he doesn't like the idea of losing his family.”

“But his siblings--”

Leia cut him off. “Ezzy isn't...” she got out, before Luke shushed him.

“It's alright, Luke. Knight Dume will need to know.” Amidala caught Depa's eyes, and she stood, coming over to the twins.

“Why don't you two come with me to see your room, while your mother talks with Caleb?” The two glanced at each other, before nodding and following her into one of the rooms off the main quarters.

“Please sit down, Knight Dume. This may take a while.” Caleb nodded and gestured for her to be seated on the couch before he joined her.

“It's not well known, but Ezra is not Anakin's and my biological son. His parents had refused to give him up, though the Order kept an eye on him.”

“If they refused to give him up, then that means...”

“It was four years ago now. Word was sent by the Governor that his parents had been murdered, likely in front of him, and he was found catatonic. Anakin was one of those who went to retrieve him. He said that he'll never forget the empty look in poor Ezra's eyes. Even the Healers in the Halls couldn't figure anything out. But the twins... somehow they managed to reach him, where he'd hidden himself away. They brought him into their Bond, and Anakin and I agreed that we would take him in. The twins had already made him their brother through the Force, so we made it official in the records as well. Can you believe they share the same birthday as well?”

“Does Ezra know? He would have been, what, three?”

“He knows we're not his birth parents, yes. But he still feels as we're getting rid of him, even though the twins will be here with him.” She looked him in the eyes, and he could see the pain and worry of a mother. “Please, help him. I'm not worried about Luke or Leia, they've always been fighters, since they were born. But Ezra has gone through so much at his young age, I don't want to see him hurt.”

“I promise you, Senator, I will treat him and the others like they were my own younger siblings.” Not that he had any experience there, but he'd been told that the younglings looked up to him like a brother, so it couldn't be very hard to reverse it.

“Thank you. And please, call me Padmé. You're taking care of my children.”  
  
“A-alright, Padmé. And call me Caleb, Knight Dume sounds too formal for me.”

Any response was cut off by a knock at the door. Caleb caught Padmé shaking her head. “My husband does not seem to like using the door chimes.”

Caleb had already rose, and as he palmed the door, he bowed. “Master Skywalker,” he greeted, gesturing for him to enter.

Skywalker did so, with a dark-haired boy Caleb guessed must be Ezra, clinging to his leg. As soon as he saw Padmé, though, he rushed to her, burying his head in her chest. She looked up at her husband, who just shrugged.

“I've heard a lot about you, Dume.”

“You have, sir?”

“Your Master has always spoken highly of you. And I seem to remember lessons with a certain youngling constantly asking questions.”

Caleb flushed, his hand going to the back of his head. “Yeah...”

“That's good. My family are proof that things are changing, and my children need to learn to question things that seem wrong to them.”

Caleb smiled, suddenly more comfortable with this whole situation. He knelt down next to Ezra.

“Hi, Ezra. My name's Caleb. I'm pleased to meet you.”

The boy in question looked at him, blue eyes meeting Caleb's teal. Before he could respond, though, Luke and Leia came back out of their room, rushing to their brother, while Depa stood by, chuckling softly.

“Ezzy! You _have_ to come see our room! It's awesome!” Leia grabbed his hand, pulling him away from their parents and Caleb. Ezra followed his sister, the adults trailing behind.

The room that had been set up for the younglings consisted of a main room with two beds and chests, and a partitioned off second, smaller room, that had a single set.

“Originally, these rooms were intended for a Master and Padawan, with the Master having their own office area,” Depa explained. “But it serves our purposes well, allowing Leia her privacy, while keeping the younglings together.”

Anakin glanced around the room. “Not bad. Maybe I should move in, too.”

Ezra looked at his father with hopeful eyes, while Leia glared at him. “You shouldn't tease Ezra, Father,” Luke reprimanded, and Anakin and Padmé both laughed.

“We'll still be here in the Temple, Ezra, and I'm sure we'll find plenty of time to see each other,” Padmé told her son.

He glanced at her, then at his father. “You're not abandoning me?”

Caleb and Depa stepped out, to give the family some privacy, as Anakin and Padmé drew all three of their children into a hug. “We would never abandon any of you. We just want what's best for you, and Caleb can help you all become the Padawans I know you can become,” Anakin told all three of them. He pretended he didn't hear the hitching breaths, straightening out and standing back up. “Let's go back out, before Dume and Master Bilaba think I've eaten you all.”

This got even Ezra to smile, despite the number of times their father had made comments that people would think he ate them if they didn't see them. He glanced at his siblings, and then the three of them ran to the bedroom door, squeezing past their parents. Once back in the main room, all three of them pounced at Caleb, who wasn't expecting it, and fell to the ground, covered in Skywalker younglings.

“Hey, lemme up!”

“Why should we?” Leia asked, with faux innocence.

“Because I'm supposed to be in charge here!”

“Doesn't look like you're in charge right now, now does it?” Luke said with a smirk.

“You guys teamed up against me!”

“What's in it for us if we let you up?” Ezra slyly asked.

Caleb looked at the three of them. “Are you _blackmailing_ me?!”

“Yes,” they answered in chorus.

“How good do you cook?” Ezra asked.

“Umm, I'm decent?”

The three looked at each other. “Take out, then!”

“Wait, I don't have any credits to buy you food!”

The three sighed, but then let him up. “You owe us,” Leia told him.

Caleb looked at the Skywalker couple, but they just shrugged. Depa walked to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “We'll leave you to them.”

Caleb looked at his former Master with a look of terror, but she ignored him as she spoke with the Skywalkers on their way out. “Traitor,” he mumbled, turning to the younglings.

“So, umm... should we go to the cafeteria for dinner, then?” He was met with three groans, but they stood, following him out the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We'll learn more about what happened to Ezra as a child, but I don't think I'm gonna do a flashback chapter or anything. I was considering it, but I just couldn't figure out how to make it work.

**Author's Note:**

> Canon Divergences:
> 
> 1) There was no assassination attempt on Chancellor Palpatine.  
2) Padmé went into labor early, and thus survived (since she was never on Mustafar). This saved Anakin from falling, and the Order realized that they may be wrong on rules about attachment.  
3) The twins were born on what would have become Empire Day (2-3ish days early).  
4) Caleb was Knighted in what would have been 13 BBY. This starts in what would have been 12 BBY.
> 
> There are more, but those are spoilers for now.


End file.
